President John Dramani Mahama has emphasised that the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, must undergo several constitutional and legal processes before it can be enacted into law. Addressing a question‑and‑answer session at Chatham House in the United Kingdom on Monday, June 1, the President explained that concerns surrounding the bill’s passage in Parliament would need to be resolved before any action is taken at the Presidency.
Mahama noted that the legislation has stirred widespread national debate, reflecting the weight many Ghanaians place on family values and social norms. He, however, underscored that doubts have been raised about whether the bill was passed in strict compliance with parliamentary procedures.
According to him, questions have emerged regarding the presence of a quorum during the approval process, alongside allegations of procedural irregularities. The President disclosed that he had received information that Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin was already taking steps to address some of the concerns surrounding the bill’s passage.
He explained that once the legislation is officially transmitted to the Presidency, legal advisers and the Attorney General will carefully review it before recommendations are made on whether it should receive presidential assent.
Mahama stressed that because the legislation originated as a private member’s bill and not a government-sponsored bill, it would require thorough scrutiny to ensure that all constitutional and procedural requirements have been met. He further noted that the Constitution provides additional options to the President if concerns arise during the review process.
These include seeking advice from the Council of State or returning the bill to Parliament if significant issues are identified. The President said any concerns found during the review would be clearly communicated to Parliament for consideration.
“The human sexual rights and family values bill has been a bill that has probably evoked the most interest in Ghana. It shows how you know important issues of family values are. Parliament has been considering it and it was supposed to have been passed last week. There have been a few issues raised. One that there wasn’t quorum when it was passed. That’s an issue that has come up and then two there were some procedural lapses in terms of its passage. I just got some communication that the speaker was reading a statement to address the issue of the lapses in the passage of the of the bill.“
“And so like I said when I was the opposition leader, the president has a number of options in this matter. It must come for assent and so once the president gets it you go through it because you are not part of the discussion in Parliament. So the legal representative, the legal counsel in the presidency and the Attorney General would sit on it because it was a private members’ motion.“
“This was not a government bill and so we’ll look at it and make sure that everything is in order before the president is advised to assent. The president has another option if there are some things that he thinks are a problem, he can refer to the Council of State for advice. The Council of State is an advisory body to the president and so they’ll take a look at it and then they’ll advise the president and if there are substantial issues that are raised the president would return the bill to Parliament, indicating exactly what the issues are and so there’s still quite a while to go before that bill becomes law,“ President Mahama said.
The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill was passed by Parliament last week after lawmakers reconsidered the legislation and introduced a number of amendments. The bill remains one of the most debated pieces of legislation in Ghana in recent years, drawing strong support from religious and traditional groups while attracting criticism from human rights advocates and some international organisations.
Meanwhile, Speaker Alban Bagbin has summoned parliamentary leaders to discuss issues surrounding the bill’s passage, saying consensus is necessary to ensure wider public acceptance of the legislation.
Source: Abigail Arthur
